By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Presidential contender Chough Soon-hyung of the minority Democratic Party (DP) boycotted the party's third round of primary elections in Gangwon and North Gyeongsang Provinces Sunday, expressing discontent over results of the voting.
He claimed that Rhee In-je was able to win the two previous rounds by mobilizing fake voters and bribing other voters.
Chough's camp said they may ask police to investigate the alleged fake voters this week.
On Sunday, former Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy Shin Kook-hwan unexpectedly topped the third round of voting in Gangwon, Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.
He received 2,190 votes or 73.6 percent of the total eligible votes, according to the party.
Rhee, who consecutively won the previous two rounds of balloting, placed second with 1,456 votes or 30.5 percent, followed by Chough with 588 votes or 12.3 percent.
He, however, still leads the DP race with 7,427 votes or 46.7 percent of the total votes, followed by Chough with 3,119 votes or 19.6 percent.
Former lawmaker Kim Min-seok trailed the two frontrunners with 205 votes, while former DP Chairwoman Chang Sang received 95 votes in Sunday's balloting.
The voter turnout of the third balloting stood at 20.1 percent.